Recently, I have found myself thinking about self care.
I am a really good anticipator, therefore a professional dreader/worrier. Our recent move was more stressful to me, for the most part, before we moved.
I am beginning to meet potential clients and to develop a caseload. There are people who come to the office, and people who meet by tele-therapy. I have a core group of office mates with skills different from my own, and I actually drove somewhere today without using my GPS
My downtime during the past year has certainly been different from previous years.
As a teen, and even before then, I was as active as I could be.
In fact, when I was in 5th grade, my teacher (Mrs. Garmin), took me aside and told me I was in too many activities. She told me I needed to pick either sports, music, or academics to focus on outside to school.
I promptly went and ‘told on’ her to my parents. I pride myself on being pseudo-good at many things, and well practiced at the things that are most difficult for me.
I could not believe that she would even think to tell me to give up one of my activities, which included after school sports, Girl Scouts, band, before school choir, basketball when it was in season, swimming in the summer, guitar classes before school, high ability classes, and spending as much time as possible with my core group of friends.
In high school, I kept up my pace. I remember during my senior year, going from tennis practice to musical rehearsal every night during the Spring semester. I dreamed one night that I had finished my reading assignment (Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities).
I woke up, realizing I had fallen asleep with the book on my lap, and had not read a page of it. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed.
Through it all, through Indiana University Marching Hundred and Pep Band, the University of Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Fishers, Noblesville, and now Mckinney, Texas; I kept my favorite stuffed animal ‘Muffy’.
As we were moving to Texas, my husband pointed out we still have ‘that creepy dog you always want to keep’. He took it out of the box, and set it somewhere else in the garage (nothing else from that box made the cut that day).
I put it into a different tote, and found it the other day as we still work to conclude the endless task of unpacking.
I thought about how happy I had been, as a child, holding that dog as I slept.
I remembered wanting to have it with me when I fell asleep at my Grandma’s house, where I spent a lot of time.
I put it through the washer, and it looks quite a bit different than it did a couple of days ago, when it had spent the last 13 years in the garage in Noblesville.
It makes me think though. It makes me think about how important it is to slow down a bit.
Without the time we have taken to unpack our boxes, I wouldn’t have re-discovered old dirty Muffy. If we had a bump out in our garage in our new house, like we had in our house in Noblesville, we probably wouldn’t have been going through each box so carefully.
It has been really interesting going through some boxes that have basically stayed packed since we began our journey together, 25 years ago.
Things that I love are: looking at water, seeing flowers bloom, swimming, and processing people and events I am a part of.
I also love watching mindless television (Hello, Big Brother), getting pedicures, and talking endlessly about nothing.
With a big life event, like moving to a new state, we have an opportunity to re-invent ourselves in some ways. I’ll never be seen as ‘the middle Dollens kid’ here in McKinney. I’m Terri Parke, from Indiana.
A Midwesterner
I encourage you to think about things you love.
Now I encourage you to take some time to fit them into your schedule. My 5th grade self did a great job of helping me learn to get and stay busy.
My 48 year old self says being busy is great, but so is enjoying the ride during the not so busy times.
I hope you take the time to do something you love today.
Or at least take a break from something you like a little less.
Today’s podcast is based on the article of a similar name about our move to Texas and our opportunities included with that.
I am excited to announce that I have office space in McKinney (Craig Ranch) Texas, and will begin seeing clients on July 8th. Hope your day is going well-and that you enjoy listening.
At about 4:30pm Central Time on June 6th we drove into McKinney, Texas; well I drove into McKinney.
I had our puppy, and my husband went directly to the AirBNB ranch, in Copper Canyon, Texas, where we would be staying for three weeks until we got possession of our newly purchased home.
Matt went to check in, meet Pam the owner, and drop off a couple of things.
After 2 days of driving, and one full hour of Oklahoma rainstorms where we met for lunch at two separate Chick Filas, we had made it to our new-to-us home in time for our final walk through. The next day, we signed the papers to purchase it.
Earlier in the week, prior to leaving Noblesville, Indiana; we took some pictures of our previous home.
Just as we were about to leave Noblesville to stay in our first hotel, Matt came through as photographer-suggester. He suggested we take a selfie at our home in Noblesville before we left.
I agreed with that suggestion, and took several pics through the home, including our view of the beautiful grass we grow so easily in Indiana.
View from the front porch
Our Noblesville home had been cleaned, all of our belongings that survived the purge had been loaded onto a truck, and we had put the final remaining items into our 2 vehicles so that we’d have clothes, some chairs, and some food/hygiene items for the coming weeks.
When we arrived in Texas for our final walk through, we walked around, and I took pics of the home with the previous owners’ belongings in it. I enjoy their decorating style, and wanted to be able to replicate a couple of things once they had their things out of it.
Wayfair Floor covering in kitchen
It was a great relief to see our home again, and then to close without incident on it on 6/7.
Even better, the ranch our realtor had connected us with in Copper Canyon, Texas, is an Air BNB that is lovely.
Sitting poolside at Sparrow Ranch
We became Texas landowners on 6/7/2019, and settled in to enjoy our stay in Copper Canyon, and to begin preparing to move into our home at the end of the month.
My childhood friends, Cara and her twin sister Sara, live in the area to which we are moving.
I have been communicating with them about re-connecting, particularly asking for help with finding a hair dresser, help with mental health office space, etc., and help finding medical/chiropractic care.
They definitely came through for me. Cara and Sara have been advising me from Texas through many of our decisions, and had told me in 2016 that they could work to connect me with people they knew. They both were true to their word and I really appreciate it.
I am excited to say that on June 18th, which also happens to be our 25th wedding anniversary, I signed on the dotted line and began renting space at the Pain Free Acupuncture Clinic in McKinney (Craig Ranch) Texas. I am writing this blog from the desk that I share with Gail, the clinical manager.
Office door, Pain Free Acupuncture Clinic
We wrap up our stay at Sparrow Ranch later this week, our 21 year old boys come over the weekend, and the furniture truck arrives late next week.
When I think about all of the anticipation and the change we have had, I think about new beginnings.
I think about my opportunity to work alongside those who help with physical pain, as I work to help from the mental health side of both emotional and physical pain. I am excited for new and old friends, new opportunities, and new beginnings.
I think about heartfelt ‘see you soons’. I think about the friendships I have in Indiana and beyond, which I will continue to have. I think about relationships I have through the work I have participated in, and I think about my close relationships with family members. I am excited to be able to continue to travel home and to accept guests into my home to continue those relationships.
I think about so many new opportunities
Now I’d like for you to think about changes that you are considering in your own life.
Think about things you like just the way they are. Think about things/people that cause you a bit of discomfort. People you may wish to reconnect with, and those you wish for a little more separation from.
As you think about changes you would like to make, or changes you have made, think about things you love, things that make you unsettled, and your plan for change
Think about ‘how can I improve what I have and love, and what can I do to make things better and sometimes harder’, at least in the short term. Think about how you can make decisions, like starting over in a new state, opening a business, drawing a picture of what you envision, or even reaching out to an old friend.
Now…think of something you can do this week, or at least in the short term.
Can you commit to it? I know I can. These changes are here, I’m excited about them, and every day is kind of like wearing a new outfit, which is something else I like to do.
Change isn’t easy….but it sure is exciting! Good luck with your commitment to change, and I’m so glad you were able to think about things you love and wish to alter in your own life.
Parke Therapy and Artistry 